Hey, I'm an undergraduate student who is very into stocks. Currently, I'm playing poker to pay my tuition, but I'm not going to be a professional poker player and I've always thought that I'll work at financial industry... One good thing is that I heard poker and trading are very similar in some ways. Anyway, what I want to know is how to acquire necessary knowledges. Is there any recommendable book? I got 20K to put initially, btw... Thank you...
0. Finish school. 1. Finish reading the trading books you started, then stop reading. 2. Watch the markets, find your instruments, find your system. 3. Get a job and save one year of living expenses plus vacation and fun stuff. 4. Watch the markets, find your instruments, find your system. 5. Paper trade. 6. Watch the markets, find your instruments, find your system. 7. Trade cash VERY small and VERY conservative to make $25 per day. 8. Conquer emotions in trading. 9. Make $50 per day. 10. Make $75 per day. 11. Make $100 per day, etc.
Well you only have two options really: 1) Open an account, immerse yourself in the market and see if you amke money. 2) Get a job in finance, learn the ropes from the inside out and then decide if you still want to go out on your own. Personally I think that learning how the market works from within an institution is important. In the end they are going to be your competition as an independent trader and I think that having an understanding of how they operate is helpful. Then again if you can succeed right off the bat thats great.
Thanks. Unfortunately, I cannot claim to have held the required patience or wisdom in my twenties to carry this out. I was having too much fun using money and enjoying women. Or is that backwards? Guess that's why I didn't start trading until my thirties!
Hey, guys. Thank you for all your replies. I'm not going to be a professional trader. I'm doing this for experience and better understanding about the field I want to get a job, and for some money if possible . So I'm afraid, but waiting until I finish school isn't legit for me. I don't know how hard it will be, but I want to do is making 2K monthly on average. Well, it's not that wise money-wise, but I think it will be better than playing poker career-wise.(I can make 5~10K per month easily playing poker). I found out this site few days ago and I thought it can help me finding out how trading goes. So as for now, I would be glad if you guys could let me know some recommendable educational resources like books or website, etc. Although I'm still appreciating all your helps. Thank you, again. p.s) I think that I need to clarify what I'm trying to say. I read some books from dummies. It was pretty easy. Then I tried to read mastering the trade which is rated as the #1 seller on amazon. But I realize I can't even understand half of that book. So I googled 'trading school'. But every sites seem to BS. As I'm at pittsburgh for now, I think online course is the only option for me. I'm willing to pay for the course I take. I don't trust all that free stuff. So if you have any good site or book to recommend, please don't hesitate to let me know.
Join a trading firm, learn on the job, then if you are good you can choose to remain and make good money with little risk, or break out on your own - higher risk, often higher reward, more freedom. Going out on your own from day 1 is like doing that in any line of business - you are MUCH more likely to fail compared to someone who gets paid a salary and mentored while they learn the ropes.
Yeah try going the prop route, but do your research. I wouldn't bother doing any trading seminars, they are mainly bullshit. As far as books go, I would focus on psychology, that is the main difference between a trader and a gambler, though if you are a consistently profitable poker player you probably realize this at some level. It's all about money management, risk management and being able to adapt to the market. Put yourself in the position to react and make money no matter what the market does.
I don't understand. What field do you want a better understanding of? Also, do you mean that you would like to trade part-time? 2-4 hours a day? There are millions of things to trade and millions of ways to trade, do you want to trade stocks? index futures? commodities? options? You mentioned you would like to make 2k a month. When do you expect to be making that 2k a month? in 6 months, 2 years or a decade? If you are already making 5k a month playing poker why bother with trading? Generally every site is BS. Before you pay $500-2000 dollars for some overpriced trading information you should read and read and read so you don't get scammed. Most of the crap that you are going to pay absurd amounts of money for is available free on the internet. Well, I guess get ready to empty your wallet but IMO there is a lot of great free stuff.